A brief scene was actually shot on the same street as Nancy's house from the original Les Griffes de la nuit (1984).
There is a deleted scene that was cut from the finished movie. It is a scene in which the character of Jim talks about women and gives a short monologue.
Although the riot scene appears to be shot 'guerilla style', it was in fact shot with permits in an enclosed, safe, controlled location.
On the sixth day of shooting (after shooting for 7 hours already and it being 10pm), due to permit issues, the production was forced out of its original location causing huge friction between the cast and crew. After some words and the director throwing a cup in anger, cooler heads prevailed and a new location was secured. By this time it was 2am and shooting continued well into the night.
Judy Waller, who played Mom, was the first person to audition, the first person to be cast, and the first person to shoot her scenes.